I Spy After a Death

A goat-like man with white mutton chops, rhythmically chewing his mid-morning meal;

Thirtysomething woman pushing baby in a stroller, clicking heels along the cobblestones;

Balding man intently calculating figures on a bench; he spies me and smiles;

Older man, younger woman holding hands, hello;

Homeless man, twirling a big umbrella- he spies me and begins to follow. Umbrella dragging, then up and open and close and twirling, repeat;

More people than usual at this time of day. Curious onlookers huddled in groups, anxiously eyeing my approach;

My own hands wringing, in anxious anticipation; the river, swollen and anxious too;

The police tape, a windblown grave marker for the body that washed ashore this morning.



More from the I Spy series.